Yesterday my horoscope said something to the effect that I should stop being so determined and dogged and take the day off to do nothing. Did I listen? Of course not. I had it in my head that I had to pull everything out of my office closet, build shelves in there, and paint the whole thing so that next weekend I can paint the office itself (and build more shelves and put in the new desk and lighting — a whole trading spaces makeover). Now is there any actual schedule here? Any schedule, that is, other than the one…
-
-
Our little farmer’s market is on Wednesday evening and tonight I didn’t buy flowers, because I finally have enough things blooming in my own yard that I can fill the vase under my grandmother’s portrait myself. However, I did buy green beans (because the caterpillars got my bean plants before they could get off the ground), and new potatoes (which I think I’ll plant next year) and gorgeous, fragrant fresh garlic. So tonight’s dinner is pasta with the first zucchini from my garden, with hot pepper flakes, fresh garlic, and basil and mint from the garden.I don’t know how I’m…
-
I’ve had a slew of emails from sweet readers of this blog lately who seem to be under the impression that I’ve managed to figure out some answer to the ongoing question about how to live, how to live small, how to live in peace and happiness.So I thought perhaps it was time to go on the record. I don’t have any answers. I don’t think there are any answers to that particular question. Like everything else that’s really important in life: love, faith, art, politics — the key term is process. It’s all a process. We never actually get…
-
Rain! It rained last night! Glorious thunderstorm about seven o’clock … with some actual moisture content as well — big raindrops falling on my garden. Glorious thunderstorm which cooled everything off a little, broke the relentless heat wave a tad, and has left my gardens looking perky and refreshed. I missed thunderstorms when I was in California. There are many nice things about California, and many people like the mono-weather. It’s dependable. It’s reliable. You rarely have to worry about what the weather’s going to do, because if it’s May-October it’ll be sunny and dry and if it’s October-May it…
-
It’s still hot here in Montana. Ninety-five to one hundred every day. The mornings are pretty nice still — it’s usually about 65 or 70 when I get up, and doesn’t really get hot hot until about 1:00 or so, but after that, it’s over. Too hot to think, too hot to move, too hot to do anything but hide in my house with my portable swamp cooler. Which I feel bad about. Explore eheatcool.com for the best local Portland HVAC solutions. For ac repair Roanoke contact Blue Ridge Heating & Air. If you need HVAC replacement, you can contact…
-
Love my swamp cooler I can think again — the portable swamp cooler is a gem. Holds about 5 gallons of water, has a big old fan, and cools the house down just enough … because it just evaporates cold water and blows the slighly cooled air into your room, the swamp cooler doesn’t have that harsh refrigerated edge to it that air conditioners give off. And it’s pretty energy-effecient since it’s just a big fan with a water pump. It’s 95 outside, and currently 79 degrees inside my house. This I can live with. Now I can think.
-
Rodeo Wrapup I’ve been meaning to blog about last week’s rodeo, but it needed a little time to sift its way through my consciousness (that and there was a big fat literary party last week that kind of threw me off my center for a few days — those things always make me feel like Sally Field at the Oscars — I still can’t believe the French editor had read my book, had remembered it, and had liked it. Of course, it would have been nice if he’d published it, but perhaps when the next one comes out). So anyway,…
-
Well, we didn’t see a bear up in Suce Creek last evening, but we did come across a mountain lion. We’d had a nice hike; I was with my friends the Campbells — and had been talking a lot about bears, since Bill is the guy who has spent so much time filming them. Had our bear spray with us, but with four dogs, and general conversation, we weren’t really worried. After we got back to the trailhead, we grabbed a picnic table in the campsite — a really nice one up in the trees, a lot of brush around…
-
Rodeo Week in Livingston Fourth of July is a big week here in Livingston — the rodeo comes to town, there’s a parade, and everyone I know seems to be having parties. Friday night was the Art Walk, or Art Swill as some of us have come to refer to it — the whole town strolling up and down the street stopping in art galleries and drinking too much cheap art gallery wine. It was one of the first nice warm summer nights, and people had their party hats on. Then last night was a gorgeous potluck barbecue outside of…
-
Eating Local We have a little local farmer’s market – when I moved here last fall it was pretty much just one good vegetable merchant and a lot of crafts. Well, they’ve done a great job getting new vendors, and Wednesday there was a local family selling their own pork, raised naturally without hormones and allowed to roam outside. Mr. Miller told me they started because they thought the local 4-H kids were paying too much for their weaner pigs, so they raised some weaners, and then when the weren’t all sold, well, they were in the pork business. So…